Summary:
Salem-Keizer School District 24J is home to 13 public middle schools serving grades 6–8, with about 8,752 students across the Salem and Keizer area. Eleven are traditional district schools and two are charter schools: Howard Street Charter and Jane Goodall Environmental Middle Charter School. The district overall is rated 1 star and sits at the 26th percentile among Oregon districts, but that single rating hides wide differences between individual schools.
The two charters lead the way. Howard Street Charter ranks 42 of 371 schools (4 stars) with the highest English (66.9%) and math (51.7%) proficiency, and just 6.2% chronic absenteeism. Jane Goodall Environmental Middle Charter School ranks 48 of 371 (4 stars) and has the top science score (59.4%) despite the highest free/reduced-price lunch rate in the group. Among traditional schools, Judson Middle School, Straub Middle School, Walker Middle School, Crossler Middle School, and Whiteaker Middle School earn 3 stars and generally beat district averages; Crossler, Leslie, and Parrish have improved their rank percentile over three years. At the other end, Waldo Middle School, Houck Middle School, and Stephens Middle School are the three lowest-ranked — and the three largest — with chronic absenteeism between 44.0% and 49.3%.
Science is the clearest system-wide weakness: only the two charters exceed the state average, and the enrollment-weighted science average is 19.6%. Absenteeism tracks with lower achievement. Notably, spending and student-teacher ratios don't predict results — Howard spends the least per student ($10,045) yet performs best, while Leslie spends the most ($20,859) and lands mid-pack. Howard's reported student-teacher ratio of 184.0 appears to be a reporting anomaly. Overall, families should compare individual schools rather than rely on the district rating.
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